Crews continued to edge closer and closer to completely containing the Jennings Creek wildfire on Tuesday. This comes as the drought watch for counties in that area and south has been upgraded to a drought warning.

With officials saying the fire was now at least 90% contained, some residents who were evacuated in the immediate area were being allowed to return home, and students returned to Greenwood Lake schools, which reopened on Tuesday.

Diane Paczkowski didn’t want to leave her Greenwood Lake home of four decades, even as flames grew closer and closer and a voluntary evacuation order was issued. 

“It’s my house, I don't lose it," she said. "So that's one of the reasons. I said I'm here for 40 years. I don't want to move.” 

First responders worked diligently to manage the wildfires burning near Greenwood Lake over the weekend and into this week. According to the state DEC’s Tuesday update, the fire was 90% contained and all voluntary evacuations were lifted. 

What You Need To Know

  • According to the state DEC, the Jennings Creek Sterling Forest fire is 90% contained

  • It's burned more than 5,300 acres in New York and New Jersey

  • Greenwood Lake schools reopened Tuesday after being closed for three days while first responders fought the fire 

Schools here reopened after three days off to help firefighting efforts. 

“They wanted the roads cleared in case something went sideways and they needed to evacuate. They wanted the schools available for that," said Greenwood Lakes School District Superintendent Sarah Hadden. "They really just wanted to keep traffic off the roads. They wanted the kids safe and to know where the kids were.”

Hadden said the community took the closures in stride, in part, because there’s a lot of support for the first responders fighting this fire. Signs and posters thanking first responders line the street corners and telephone poles in Greenwood Lake. 

The school even converted to a temporary shelter for evacuees over the weekend. 

“We have a lot of first responders that live in our community and because of that, they really understand what it takes," Hadden said. "These efforts, there's a true understanding that it really does take a whole lot of people to address something like this.” 

Paczkowski says she’s thankful for the kindness and determination of the first responders. Their presence made her feel a little more at ease, watching them fight the flames from outside her window. 

“The cops, the fire department was very, very polite to me," she said. "They said, ‘Do you want to stay?’ And I said, 'Yes.' You know, so that's the reason why I did stay.” 

Among the counties now under a drought warning are Delaware, Dutchess, Orange, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster. Rain is expected to move into the area beginning Wednesday night through Friday.

There is a statewide burn ban still in effect as well.